Baggies hit by Davies blow

The Baggies skipper broke a metatarsal in his left foot for the second time this term during the gut-wrenching 3-2 defeat by Crystal Palace last night.

Davies, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday today with his promotion dreams now in the hands of his team-mates, suffered the injury while trying to stop Clinton Morrison scoring Palace's 35th minute equaliser.

And with Albion's resources stretched further by a one-game ban for sent-off defender Martin Albrechtsen, manager Tony Mowbray's first calls today were to check on the prospects of recruiting a defender on loan.

"There's no guarantee you can get the right quality players so we'll wait and see," said Mowbray.

"We are pretty thin on the ground. But I've been aware of that for a good while. We have been making calls on a daily basis to check on the availability of players.

"Sometimes, in adversity at football clubs, you can gain a real strength and togetherness and we've got to look for that."

To add to Davies' heartbreak, the injury comes on the day he was called up to the England Under-21s squad for the first-ever game to be played at the new Wembley Stadium against Italy on Saturday week.

But it is the second time Albion have had to cope without the star defender for a lengthy spell this season – he missed seven weeks after a similar injury at Sunderland in August.

Since then he has missed only one match through suspension and Mowbray admitted his absence was a real blow to the club.

"It's a big blow because he has been an inspiration to us defensively.

If Albion's loan moves draw a blank it throws up the prospect of a dramatic first team call for Sunday's crunch with Birmingham City for young defender for Jared Hodgkiss - or an even less likely opening for Chris Perry.